For 49ers' Lawrence Okoye, being a `bad football player' is a good thing

SANTA CLARA — Next up in Lawrence Okoye's crash course in football — American football — comes the 49ers' preseason opener Thursday night against the Denver Broncos.

Okoye, a former British Olympic discus thrower, might be the most intriguing player among the 2,880 in NFL training camps. He's certainly the most inexperienced.

"Our first goal was to get him to so he looks like a really bad football player," defensive line coach Jim Tomsula said. "I don't mean that in a negative way. It's a compliment. The key term there is 'football player.' "

Okoye embraced that analysis, adding: "I'm enjoying the ride. Sometimes I leave the field and my ears are ringing, but it's a good feeling. I enjoy being a bad football player at the moment."

The 49ers have tame expectations for Okoye's first-ever football game, and they aren't promising he'll play much, if at all.

"The guy's never played football in his life, and he's been making strides out here," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "But it's all relative. We'll try getting him into the game Thursday. How much? We don't know yet."

Exactly a year ago, Okoye competed in the Olympic finals of the discus in his native London. Only 2 ½ years earlier, he began throwing the discus, and "I was terrible, awful." But soon he set the British record (68.24 meters). Not bad for a one-time rugby player.

Now the 6-foot-6, 304-pound athletic wonder is attempting to make a similar splash on the American football pitch, if you will.

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"What really fires me up is he put that (discus success) to the side to start at zero," Tomsula said.

The 49ers only began practicing in full pads on July 27 at training camp, and when that day came, Okoye called it a "crazy difference." He also had to ask Tomsula the most simplest question: 'Is this the front of the shoulder pads or back of them?' "

With his Adonis-like physique — as described by coach Jim Harbaugh — Okoye hasn't looked out of place among the defensive line.

But the "Great Brit" — as he was nicknamed by American training partners before joining the 49ers in April — is expectedly raw in his techniques. He realizes he can't rely on brut force.

"I should be knocking guys down, but they're knocking me down, and I should be getting better leverage," Okoye said.

As a third-string right defensive tackle, Okoye often lines up against starting left tackle Joe Staley and left guard Mike Iupati. Okoye remarked how thankful he was to hear Staley tell him after practice that he's improving.

"Everyone in the organization has been so good in giving me advice and encouragement," Okoye said. "I want to do it for them and me."

Tomsula's first technical issue was for Okoye to keep his head up, literally. Now Okoye must bend his knees better, extend his arms correctly — instead of in offensive tackle's faces — and keep his feet moving.

"There's a lot to this game," Tomsula said. "There's technique, there's learning in books, there's learning from film. But you don't understand the game until you're hitting and being hit.

"You just don't run out and do this thing."

Tomsula coached nine seasons in the now-defunct NFL Europe, so he's not new to daunting projects. But Okoye is surrounded by All-Pro teammates who don't have time to wait for him to develop.

If Okoye shows enough promise, his best shot likely is to land one of eight spots on the 49ers' practice squad. Otherwise he'll at least serve as a familiar laison when the 49ers go to London to play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 27.

Okoye's focus now, however, is on the snaps he might get Thursday night.

"It's going to be interesting to be in front of the Candlestick crowd and be at my first football game," Okoye said.

From Day 1, Fangio has expressed trepidation about The Okoye Project, when he reminded that most NFL players have been groomed through the youth, high school and college ranks.

"The more he's thinking effects his technique and how intense he can play, how confident he is," Fangio said. "His process isn't as fast as somebody else who has experience."

Tomsula is as anxious as anyone to see how Okoye responds to live, game action.

"I'm not telling if he'll get a bunch of reps, if any," Tomsula said. "But today I'll say I can put him in with good conscious."